Leave Alaska politics to Alaskans

I’m sure you all have seen the attack ads targeting Sen. Mark Begich in the past few months, the latest about the carbon tax, and all funded by the Koch brothers, multi-billionaires with very deep pockets who somehow have an axe to grind in regard to the Democrat senator from Alaska. They also are behind the recent closing of the Flint Hills Refinery in North Pole. They own that too.

So what is the deal behind them? Why are they flooding the airwaves with false advertising? According to Politifact, Factcheck.org, the New York Times and other media sources, the ad with the woman claiming to be an Alaska resident and voter was in fact false. She turned out to be an actress from Maryland.

The most recent one claims that our senator is in support of the carbon tax, when in reality he is against it, and that was made very public. That ad was labeled false as well, yet that one is on air many times daily on television. I thought there were laws against that kind of thing. Maybe it only applies to consumer products and services.

The money trail leads directly back the Koch brothers though organizations like Americans for Prosperity and Heritage Action. Why they are so bent on this kind deceptive mudslinging? Power, for one. Also, the notion that elections are not for voters and the people, but something bought and sold by those with the deepest pockets flush with millions of dollars. Is this the new American way? No. It certainly is not, and it must stop.

They believe they can buy this state — at least this state’s elected leadership. Dead wrong on both counts. We don’t need outside money or outsiders telling us how to vote. I have been hearing about these two yahoos for years now, and none of it good.

Along with spending millions on these attack ads, they boost 80-plus workers from the Flint Hills refinery in North Pole when they shut it down, claiming they can’t afford it and stabbing hardworking Alaskans in the back. Way to go guys, areal class act. Alaskan Republicans and Democrats were angry at the news of the shutdown. You know what? So are a lot of Alaskans from all walks of life. So am I, for that matter.

Yet these ads still come on air, muddling up the whole thing. Honestly, we Alaskans can and will conduct this election our way. We do know how to do things like that. There is no need whatsoever for people like these two to muck it up. We are not puppets for billionaires to play with.

Now before people go off on me because this concerns a Democrat being the target of this type of deceptive practices. I would have opined about this if a Republican were the object of such foul attention as well. I want to see a clean election, free of this type of muck being slung around. I want to see both sides make their positions known with honesty and integrity, those points of view vigorously debated so Alaskans can make a choice in the true American way by voting. Anyone taking money by the Koch brothers and the groups they lead risks becoming a puppet for their perverse interests of power.

As for the Koch brothers, they should take all that money spent on folly and put it toward cleaning up that refinery. Then, put all those workers back on the payroll to work it and never threaten to shut it down again. That would truly be money well spent. Stick to your charities instead (I hear they do very good there). Leave Alaska politics to Alaskans.

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.